The
Windsor Spitfires scored two minutes into the first period Saturday,
and it appeared they may be on their way to a blowout win. Yet Saginaw
stifled Windsor for the rest of that period to stay in the game.

But
when Windsor scored again 35 seconds into the second period, the rout
was on. Four more second-period goals followed that one, keying a 6-1
win for the Spitfires over the Spirit in front of 3,038 fans at The Dow
Event Center's Wendler Arena Saturday night.

Windsor's Dale
Mitchell and Austin Watson each scored twice for in the period for a
Windsor team that is ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League.

Spirit
head coach Todd Watson said his team played relatively well in the
first and third periods, but a five-goal Windsor second period was too
much for the Spirit to come back from. Saginaw had a 5-on-3 chance to
tie the game late in the first period, but couldn't convert the goal
and remained scoreless until the third period.

Saginaw goalie
Eddie Pasquale gave up six goals on 27 shots in two periods, before
Anthony Peters came on for the third period and made six saves to keep
Windsor at bay.

Saturday's game marked the halfway point of the
Spirit's 68-game regular season. The Spirit will now take a 10-day
break for Christmas, before returning for a Dec. 29 home game against
Erie.

During that time, overage forward Jordan Skellett said the
team will try to put the end to the first half behind them, so they can
start fresh with the second half of the season.

"You just take
it easy," Skellett said of the break. "Personally I like to stay off
the ice, be with family, stuff like that. I don't even think about it
that much. Just kind of a chance to reset the engines."

The
Spirit broke a six-game losing streak Friday with a 3-2 win over Sault
Ste. Marie. Before that, they had been scoreless in their last two
games, losing by a combined 15-0 to Plymouth and Sault Ste. Marie.

It
appeared the Spirit had broken out of their goal-less slump, after they
scored three goals in the final 16 minutes of the game Friday. But the
Saginaw offense came out flat one again Saturday, and by the time it
got going with a goal from Josh Shalla early in the third period, the
game was out of hand.

Saginaw played Saturday's game without a
number of its leading scorers; Tyler Murovich and Garret Ross continue
to serve suspensions from a Dec. 5 game against London. Leading scorer
Ivan Telegin was also absent from Saturday's game, as he heads to
Saskatoon for the IIHF World U20 Championships, where he will play for
team Russia. The tournament starts on Dec. 26 and continues through
early January.

All put together, it amounted to another slow
night of offense at The Dow, and another December Spirit loss. The
Spirit they limp into the Christmas break, losers of seven of eight,
but after a better-than-expected start to the season, Watson had good
things to say about his team's position at the midway point of the
regular season.

"If you would have said that's where we're
finishing up, 17-14-3, a team that was picked to finish 15th," Watson
said. "...We're still in the hunt for the playoffs."